The aftermath

After the hurricane we realized how nice it is to be self sufficient and self contained. There was considerable damage done by hurricane Jimena, Santa Rosalia and Mulege had strong winds and flooding. Loreto had no water or power for several days. There was destruction to many towns between the pacific and the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula. The army came in and there was a rush of repairs underway almost immediately, repairing roads, replacing power lines, and clearing streets. Within just a few days power was getting turned back on and the main highway was operating again. It was pretty impressive. Here in Puerto Escondido we are quite a ways out of town, so it was easy at first to think that after the wind died down, that it was all over. Us cruisers were pretty much back to normal, but it will be a long time before some of these communities are fully functional.

Blue Moon and ourselves loaned our Honda generators to a local business at the Singlar Marina. Pedro runs a small tienda and the Porto Bello restaurant which caters to the cruisers. Without power he had no lights or refrigeration. The use of the generators allowed him to remain open and prevented him from loosing all his perishable foods. It was nice to be able to help out, and was really of little inconvenience to us.

The other effects of the Hurricane and the rain was that the hills are turning green. The plant life takes advantage of the occasional precipitation and is bursting with new growth. We also had a chance to hike up into what is called Steinbeck Canyon. This is a deep gorge behind the bay that goes back into the Gigante mountains. After the heavy rains there is running water and many waterfalls and pools. The chance to enjoy some cool fresh water was too good to pass up. We had a nice walk with Bruce from Marionette, and Mike and Wendy from Bodisatva.
There were quite a few good size pools to swim in and the narrow canyon provided some shade. It was a nice way to spend a day. The canyon was mentioned in Steinbecks's book "The Log of the Sea of Cortez".

Adios Jimena

All is well on Masquerade, and Jimena has past by.

We started to get heavier winds just after midnight on the 2nd. The winds blew strong and gusty through out the day, the strongest winds were probably early afternoon. During the storm we had consistent winds in the 50 to 60 knot range and our maximum gust reading was 88kn (about 100mph)! We also had heavy rains. The winds lightened up into the evening, but we continued to have strong gusts (up in the 50kn range)through the night. it is now around 9am on the 3rd the winds are down but we are still having occasional gusts to 40kn though I am not sure they are strictly hurricane related anymore.

It was pretty exciting with heavy rain and the tops of the waves blowing off. In the higher winds made visibility dropped to about a hundred feet and we were pelted with water (a mix of rain and sea water). We were only wearing our swimsuits as we did not want a bunch of wet clothes downstairs, but rain at 60kn hurts when it hits you! We had been advised to keep our snorkeling masks handy but did not need to use them.

We had completely stripped the boat in preparation for the hurricane and we were glad we did. The sails were all removed and stored, the dodger and solar panels stored down below, the dinghy was deflated and lashed to the deck. We had debated doing a few of these items, but decided that we should do the extra work and be cautious. We felt much more comfortable during the storm having done them.

Several boats did drag or break loose during the storm. Most were unattended and ended up aground. One boat had the captain on board and he managed to motor to a safe spot and was able to deploy an anchor. One boat has been pulled out to deeper water and is again attached to a mooring. The other boats are still up against the shore and will wait for a high tide and calmer winds.

We survived a close pass with a hurricane (within 50 miles of the eye) and had an adventure that we won't be looking to repeat. We would like to thank Don of Summer Passage radio, Stan from SolMate Santiago, the National Hurricane Center, eebmike.com and all the other people who helped provide weather information to all the boats down here in Mexico. Having good weather info is critical for preparations and peace of mind.

Now we can relax today, because tomorrow we start to put the boat all back together again. We hope it stays cool a few days so we can get the work done before it gets too hot.

Jimena update

Update as of about 11AM local time.
Hurricane Jimena is about 60nm to the west of us along the west coast of the Baja penninsula. This puts us close enough to get some pretty good winds.
The winds started to pick up around midnight when we got gusts to around 30. By early this morning we had sustained winds around 40 and gusts to 60. The winds have increased some and we are getting around 50 with our max gust at 70. We are also getting heavy rains. Jimena is down to a Cat 2 hurricane and is weakening as it gets close to and over land.
The boat is doing fine as are we and the cats. The mooring is holding fine and we are dry and safe inside. To bad we have to go outside frequently to check our lines, chafe gear, and keep watch on other boats. The rain and spray is warm so when we go outside to check things we get soaked but not cold. The ride is a little bouncy as the boat heels over when we get a hard gust, but not any worse than we have had sailing sometimes.

Sitting tight and waiting for the storm to pass over.

Still waiting for Jimena

We are now in the inner harbor of Puerto Escondido, tied up to a mooring. The sails have been taken down and the deck stripped of dodger, kayaks etc. The boat is ready for the storm. Fortunately the latest forecasts show that the hurricane is weakening some and should stay to the west of us and not hit the Baja till further north. This is good news.

 

Right now we are getting unsettled weather, calms for a while than downpours and gusty winds. More updates later.